Aircraft



Sept.,13, 1932. R JANNEY 1,876,682

AIRCRAFT Filed Dec. 20, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 i Q11)! M, mg 0 ATTORNEYS R. JANNEY Sept. 13, 1932.

AIRCRAFT 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 20, 1930 H. M 0 TA mJ VD 0% i 7% Y MB 63 g a M I J B ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 13, 1932 PATENT OFFICE} REYN OLD JANNEY, F LONDONDEBRY, OHIO AIRCRAFT Application filed December 20, 1930. Serial No. 03 ,723.

, My invention relates to crafts which are adapted to travel up and down as well as in a forward direction ina medium acted upon by propellers carried by such craft.- The invention has ben designed primarily for craft 4 adapted to travel in the air and particularly airplanes, but might be usedin connection with other craft as referred to hereinafter. As applied to airplanes, my invention has for its object to provide such an arrangement of propellers and means for controlling them, as will enable the craft to rise without a running start, to travel at any desired speed within the range of .the power plant, to stop and hover in midairif desired, and to effect a landing without a running finish.

The advantages of such an operation will be obvious. In the preferred embodiment of my invention, as described in detail hereinafter, I provide propellers located one in ad Vance of the other and constructed to permit of rotating them in such a manner'that they will produce oposite effects on the medium in which the craft is to travel, the airplane having a structural member with an approxi-. mately horizontal surface under which said medium is crowded by said propellers when rotating with opposite effects, to exert a lifting effect on said surface. By any suitable mechanism, one of the propellers can be made to rotate with different effects, by changing the pitch of its blades or even reversing the direction of the revolution. This will enable the two propellers, which at the start oppose each other with equal force in their action,

so far as they tend to move the craft horizontally, and which at such start have only a lifting efiect, to be so adjusted in their rel- .ative effects as to produce a longitudinal :ie wind.

these features co-operate to make the crafttravel of the craft, all as explained more fully below. The invention also embodies a lifting propeller driving air downwardly against the air which said two opposing propellers have crowded or banked under said approximately horizontal surface. Furthermore, my invention comprises a device coacting with the lifting propeller for counteracting any side drift that may be due to It will be understood that while eflicient in every respect, it is not essential that all of these features be present in the craft, but some of the advantages of my invention may be obtained even when certain elements of the embodiment illustrated are omitted.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings illustrating in somewhat diagrammatic fashion a satisfactory embodiment of my invention. In said drawings, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the airplane with parts in longitudinal central section; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the airplane; Fig. 8 is a front elevation thereof, F 4 shows upon a larger scale, in side elevation, a mechanism for ad'- 655 justing the blades of one of the propellers; Fig. 5 is a section on line 55 of Fig. 4;'and lgig. 6 is a transversesection on line 66 of The particular embodiment illustrated shows an airplane with three propellers, viz.

a forward propeller '1 rotatable about a normally horizontal axis, a lifting propeller 2 rotatable about a normally vertical axis, and

a rear propeller 3 rotatable about a normally horizontal axis. The two propellers 1, 3 may be secured to the same longitudinal shaft 4, which while represented as a unit, may be composed of sections more or less flexibly connected. The lifting propeller 2 is shown as carried by a shaft 5 which is connected with the shaft 4' in any suitable manner, for instance by bevel gearing 5 enclosed in a suitable box 6. The airplane has a central structural member D with an approximately horizontal lower surface, and by-suitable trusswork D" this memberiD is connected with the bearings forthe shaft 4 and with other parts of thefairplane, in particular the engine or power plant 7 (of any suitable construc- 9 tion) for driving the shafts 4L and 5. While the shaft 5 may be in permanent operative connection with the shaft 4, there may be employed an arrangement which enables the lifting propeller 2 to be disconnected from the power plant; for instance, Fig. 1 indicates at A a clutch member controlling the connection of theshaft 5 with the bevel gear ing 5, and at B a suitable operating connection leading to a handle 0 located with gear box or housing 6, which latter has a bearing for the lower end of the shaft 5, while the upper end of said shaft is received in a bearing at the central portion of an upper longitudinal member 27. There are also provided corresponding transverse lower and upper members 28 and 29 respective-- ly (Figs. 2, 3, and 6) so that spider-like supports are formed for the upper end of the propeller shaft and for the gear box 6. It will be understood that the dorsal fin F has a suitable opening or recess F to accommodate the upper longitudinal member 27, and that the main plane D has a suitable opening D for the lifting propeller 2. When there is a single lifting propeller, as shown, this opening will be in the longitudinal center of the plane D, and the of the propeller shaft 5 will preferably extend through the center of gravity of the entire airplane or other craft.

At E, E I have shown wing extensions of the main plane D, at each side thereof. These wings may be rigid with the main plane D or they might be hinged thereto to swing about parallel axes ranging lengthwise of the craft, which axes would be located at the points indicated by 12, and 13 in Fig. 3. If the wings E are hinged, suitable mechanism under'control of the operator would be provided for adjusting them to different positions about theirhinges. At E, I have indicatedwhat may be called keel or bilge fins extending fore-and-aft below the main plane and attached to it at their upper edges. In the embodiment illustrated, the bilge fins E are assumed as secured rigidly to the main plane D so that said bilge fins will always have the same position relatively to said main plane, and as shown will be vertical whenever the main plane is horizon-. tal. The bilge fins, however, might be hinged to the main plane D about axes extending lengthwiseof the craft, which axes might be at the points indicated as 12, 18. In fact, Imight omit the wings E when hinging the bilgefins E at 12, 13, so that the members E could be swung up to the substantially horizontal position indicated for the wings E, or dropped to the position illustrated for the members E in Fig. 3. The bilge fins E might be made longer than illustrated in Fig. 3, but, of course, their length would have to be kept within certain limits so that they would not touch the ground when in in contact with such bearing.

shown two deflectors 14, 15, which are hinged to a suitable part of the frame, for instance the longitudinal lower member 26, about aligning axes 1 1, 15 respectively located in the longitudinal center of the craft. These deflectors are connected to move inunison,for instance by means of a lower bearing of the ring 30 surrounding the shaft 5, without being Normally, the deflectors are in a vertical position, but they may be inclined to either side by suitable mechanism under the control of the operator, a mechanism of this kind being indicated diagrammatically at H.

Any suit able construction may be employed for adjusting the blades of the propeller 3 to difierent pitch angles and for reversing the pitch (from left-hand to right-hand or vice versa) so that this propeller, while always rotating in the same direction, may act on the air either in the same direction as the propeller 1, or in opposition thereto. There are several types of propeller construction actually carried out or proposed in publications, which are available for this purpose. As an instance (but without intending to restrict myself thereto) I have shown an arrangement which is in a substantial reproduction of a construction devised by Levasseur and set forth on page 469 of Victor W. Pages Modern Aircraft published 1927 by Norman W. Henley Publishing Company. According to this construction, the shaft 4 carries two radial stub axles 8 on which the propeller blades 9 are mounted to swing about an axis 10 intersecting the axis of the propeller shaft 4 at right angles. Each blade 9 has an inner or hub portion 11 provided with an eccentric pin 11 parallel to the blade axis 10 and pivotally connected with a link 16 extending lengthwise of the propeller shaft 1. The other end of the link is pivotally connected at 17 with a collar 18 which, by means of a feather-and-groove or other suitable formation, is compelled to rotate in unison with the propeller shaft l, but permitted to slide lengthwise thereof. This collar18 forms the inner member of a ball bearing the balls of which are indicated at 19. These balls also engage the annular outer member 20 of the ball bearing, mounted upon or formed integral with, a sleeve 21 provided with a screw thread engaging a corresponding threaded portion of a stationary tube or carrier 22 coaxial with he propeller shaft. By any suitable means, the two members 18, 20 of the ball bearing are held to move in unison so far as longitudinal movement is concerned. The sleeve 21 is formed with spur teeth 23 of considerable length which are in permanent mesh, notwithstanding any longitudinal movement of said sleeve, with a pinion 24. rigidly secured to a control shaft 25 extending to a suitable hand-wheel or other actuating mechanism located in the cockpit, so as to be within convenient reach of the pilot. It will be understood that rotation of the control shaft in one direction 0r theother will cause the ball bearing, and particularly the inner member 18 thereof, to be shifted toward or away from the propeller, and through the medium of the links 16 this will swing the propeller blades 9 about their individual (radial) axes, so as to alter the pitch angle of these blades, or even reverse them. This adjustment or reversal can be effected while the propeller is in operation. WVhile I have shown the adjustable blade feature only in connection with the propeller 3, the same arrangement might be adopted for the propeller 1 as well.

The airplane also comprises a suitable landing gear J.

The operation of the airplane shown in the drawings is as follows: Then the machine is on the ground as illustrated, and it is intended to cause it to rise straight up, the

adjustable rear propeller 3 is brought to such a condition that when the shaft 4 is rotated, the two propellers 1, 3 will rotate with opposite effects on the air, that is to say, the propeller 1 will drive the air rearwardly and the propeller 3 will drive air forwardly with the same force so that the propellers will have no tendency to drive the craft either forward or rearward. The air will be crowded by said propellers 1, 3 under the substantially horizontal surface of the central plane memher D and this air will produce a strong lift ing effect. The shape of the edges and of the undersurface of the main plane D, together with the location of the propellers 1 and 3 relatively to such edges and undersurface, will produce a lifting effect due to the horizontal rush of the air as driven by the propellers 1 and 3. This lifting effect is increased by the simultaneous operation of the lifting propeller 2 which drives air downwardly against the body of air which has been crowded under the plane 'member D by the action of the propellers 1, 3. The pitch of the lifting propeller blades would in practice be quite different from that of the horizontal propellers, for the reason that pitch angles of the blades must be determined for best etficiency by the rotary velocity of the blades together with the speed of the plane through the air. The rising velocity of the plane would always be small compared with its possible horizontal velocity, so the pitch angle of the lifting bladeswould be very small, indeed they would almost be in the plane of revolution. This would not only give greater lifting efiiciency, but would also more effectively close the propeller opening D in the main' plane -D against leakage through such opening, of the banked air from the propellers 1 and 3. The combined action of the three propellers will lift the craft into the air. In laboratory tests I found this to be the case even Without the bilge fins E, i

but the lifting efiect was greater when these bilge fins were employed or when, as 7 an equivalent thereof, the side wings E were hinged, and dropped to a position corresponding to that shown for the bilge fins in F 3. The efiect of such bilge fins or of the dropped side wings, is to prevent the free lateral escape of the air crowded under the main plane D, and I found that the lift was about 12% greater when such lateral escape was impeded by bilge fins or by the dropped. side wings.

The lifting propeller 2 need not be of the same pitch or the same number of blades, or

run at the same speed as the propellers 1 and 3. The drawings show the propellersl and 3 as having two blades each, while the propeller 2 is illustrated as a four-blade propeller. The clutch mechanism indicated at A may be utilized to throw out the lifting propeller when its action is no longer desired. In actual tests made to determine the lifting power all three of the propellers were run at the same speed and were of. the same pitch, the speed being varied through quite a wide range by varying the, speed of the motor. One specific test at a propeller speed of 4200 R. P. M. will illustrate the lifting effects obtained under different conditions as stated, from a H. P. motor:

The propellers were all alike and of approximately 4 inches pitch radius.

(1) With all three running and the extra bilge fins E in place the lift was 12.2 pounds.

(2) With the fins E removed the lift was 10.6 pounds.

(3) With the propellers 1 and 3 removed and the vertical propeller running alone the lift was 5.72 pounds.

(4) With the vertical propeller 2 removed and the opening D through the plane D closed, and the two propellers 1 and 3 running the lift was 5.88 pounds when the bilge fins E were in place.

In the last mentioned test the lift was due 3 to the opposing forces of the propellers in crowding the air under the plane D and cornpelling it to escape downward. The reaction lie against the underside of the plane D is the I lift of 5.88 pounds.

A test of the air currents indicates that the lift of 12.2 pounds produced as the combined effect of the three propellers will be considerably increased by increasing the number of blades of the lifting propeller 2 l and changing their pitch and by increasing the relative velocity in comparison with that ofthe other propellers.

This lifting test was made with a l; horse power D. C. motor rated to run at 17 50 R. P.

M. but which in the tests ran only 1&00 R. P. M. The lift of 12.2 pounds was therefore nbtained under very incfficient conditions, and the more so when it is considered; that such small propellers with such a small meter could not efficient at MOO R. P. M. for the motor and 4200 l. M. for the propellers.

It is well known that by proper shaping of the upper and the lower surfaces of a plane, a considerable ifting effect is obtained during forward travel, both by an upward pressure of the rushing air against such lower surface, and by the vacuum produced above the upper surface. My tests, however, were made with a perfectly fiat plane, and the results indicated above therefore are due exclusively to my novel arrangement, and by using planes of more eflicient shape, the results would be improved considerably.

It will be noticed that the lifting propeller is placed in line with a well or opening in the plane and tends to produce a vacuum above the plane, while it plays upon the body of compressed air under the plane.

The purpose of the deflectors Ll, 15 is primarily to counteract the side drifting effects of winds during the rising of the craft, its hovering, or landing. They can, however, be used for the same purpose at any other time, as during the travel of the craft. W hen these deflectors are adjusted to an inclined position, the current of air thrown downwardly by the lifting propeller 2 will strike such inclined surfaces and will be deflected laterally, the reaction effect producing a lateral push on the craft which, if the inclination of the deflector is in the proper direction, will counteract the effect of the side wind.

The adjustment of the pitch of the rear propeller 3 and the reversal of its blades serve two important purposes: First, after the craft has risen into the air, the pitch of the blades is gradually decreased so that they will have a smaller propelling effect on the air; in other words, the actions of the two propellers 1 and 3 will no longer be balanced, but the propeller 1 will have a strongcr action and thus begin to drive the craft forward. The speed of the craft is increased by gradually continuing the change of pitch and finally reversing the rear propeller until its blades occupy the same position as those of the front propeller 1 so that from then on the two propellers will add their effects to each other. Second, by increasing or decreasing the pitch of the rear propeller while the craft is rising, hovering, or descending, I may counteract the efiect of a head wind or tail wind, just as the two deflectors 14, 15 enable me to counteract the effect of a side wind.

The main purpose of the dorsal fin F is to prevent skidding and to steady the straight forward drive of the plane. This fin may be a thin sail like sheet or, as shown, it may be like an inverted V or of tent shape and provide storage or passenger space.

i It is evident that the group of three propellers as described above may be regarded as merely one group or power unit. Two or more of these groups may be employed in an airplane, and the vertical or lifting propellers may be operated either individually or in separate groups independently of the hoizontal propellers.

Each separate propeller may be driven by its own engine, and instead of a pitch reversing device for one or more of the propellers the driving engine of such propeller or propellers may be reversible.

Only one lifting propeller may be used with two or more groups of fore-and-aft propellers, or more than one lifting propeller maybe used with a single couple or horizontal group, and driven by separate engines.

The main idea of my invention is the opposing of translational driving propellers for lifting purposes while their design is such as to enable the operator at will to change the individual direction of propulsion of one or more of the opposing propellers (such as 1, 3) so as to cause a more or less unified action to drive the plane mecha nism as a whole in a desired translational direction.

The body or fuselage of the airplane may be of any usual or approved construction. The central plane D and its side extensions or wings E may be provided with supplementary rudder sections or ailerons of the type well known in the art. I have found that the best results are obtained when the propellers 1, 3 are located slightly in advance and in the rear respectively of the main plane D as illustrated; this arrangement, however, is not absolutely essential. lVhile I have referred to the lower surface of the main plane D as substantially horizontal, I do not wish this to be interpreted as excluding surfaces which have an inclination or camber either longitudinally or transversely or both, but I simply mean that this lower surface is a'supporting surface by which the plane rests on the air during flight.

The invention has been illustrated in connection with an airplane, but it will be obvious that my improved arrangement of propellers and of the deflectors 14:, 15 might be employed in connection with other power craft having motion at varying levels in a fiuid medium. Thus, the invention might be applied to airships, that is to say, lighten than-air craft provided with a power plant, or it might eve-n be used in connection with submarines to control the diving or rising of such craft as well as their travel.

l/Vhile l have shown the cockpit F as located within the dorsal fin F, various other arrangements might be adopted; for instance, such cockpit might be located along the line of the shaft 4 and in fact such shaft might run through the cockpit.

In the drawings the opposing propellers 1, 3 have been shown as rotating about an axis extending lengthwise of the craft. So far as the lifting action of these propellers is concerned, it is obviously immaterial whether their axis extends lengthwise of the craft or crosswise as long as such axis is substantially horizontal. I might, for instance in addition to the propellers 1, 3 pro vide one or more similar pairs rotating about a horizontal axis or axes difierent from that of the shaft 4; as a specific example, I might refer to the possibility of having three pairs of propellers, one pair having its axis in the longitudinal center of the craft as shown, and the other pairs having their axes of rotation at 60 from said longitudinal axis, when viewed in plan.

Instead of the deflectors 14, 15 located in the longitudinal center of the craft, or in addition to such deflectors, I might provide vanes or deflectors of the same character in the members or fins E, since the current of air delivered downwardly by the lifting propeller 2 will also reach these bilge fins. In fact, if these bilge fins are hinged, they might be swung to inclined positions in which they will act as deflectors in substantially the same manner as has been described for the deflectors 14, 15.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the nature of my invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A craft having propellers locatedone in advance of the other, and constructed to permit of rotating them with opposite effects on the medium in which the craft is to travel a structural member having an approximately horizontal surface under which said medium is crowded by said propellers when I rotating with opposite effects, a lifting propeller arranged to drive the medium in which the craft is to travel, downwardly into the space between the first-named propellers, and depending bilge fins located at each side of said space, to impede the lateral escape of said'medium, and a dorsal fin on the upper surface of the member having the approximately horizontal surface.

2. A craft according to claim 3, in which side members are hinged to the said structural member about longitudinal axes, to be swung either upward to a position in which they form wing extensions of said member, or downward to form bilge fins impeding the lateral escape of the medium which the propellers crowd under said member.

3. A craft having propellers rotatable about normally horizontal axes and constructed to permit of rotating them with opposite effects on the medium in which the craft is to travel, a structural member bridging the space between said propellers and having an approximately horizontal surface under which said medium is crowded by said propellers when the latter are rotating with on the medium in which the craft is to travel,

and arranged'adjacent to opposite edges of said surface, so that rotation of said propellers with opposite effects will crowd said medium in opposite directions inwardly under said surface, said member having an opening between said propellers, and a lifting propeller arranged to drive the medium in which the craft is to travel, downwardly through said opening into the space between the first-mentioned propellers.

5. In an airplane, a plane having an opening extending therethrough from top to bottom, a lifting propeller arranged to drive air downwardly through said opening, two additional propellers located one in advance of the other and arranged to revolve on normally horizontal axes driving the air in opposition to each other at a level below that of the said lifting propeller, so as to produce a combined downward thrust under the said plane, and means under the control of the operator for changing the pitch or the direction of rotation of one of said additional propellers so as to drive the air through it in conjunction with the air coming from the other additional propeller and produce a combined forward drive of the airplane.

6. In an airplane, a plane having an opening extending therethrough from top to bottom, a lifting propeller arranged'to drive air downwardly through said opening, a plurality of additional propellers rotating about normally horizontal axes for banking or crowding the air with equal force from different directons under the plane to produce a combined lifting efi'ect on such plane, means of changing the action of one or more of said additional propellers in such a manner that their driving effects on the air will no longer exactly counterbalance each other, the air driven downwardly by the lifting propeller being projected against the air banked under the plane by the action of said additional propellers, and power means for driving said lifting and said additional propellers.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

REYN OLD J ANN EY. 

